Usually the folks who get burned are the ones who fail to ask themselves "what can go wrong in bad times, and what have I done to mitigate that risk" (e.g., you flip a house with HML because you think the market is hot and ARVs in 3 months will be at current or higher levels, but don't plan for a market slowdown). 

I didn't want to tie up all of my own cash in the deal and the truth is, I am really happy I approached the deal that way rather than burning through my own cash. 

There will still be PMI, but it will burn itself off.

I've been circumvented and burned many times in the past and that wasn't something I felt I could not do.

Those who have tried a tk company and had a bad experience are MUCH more likely to still be very vocal on BP, because they've been burned and are still looking for the right investment.I think @Mike D'Arrigo gave a perfect list of important red flags - the cash-only, no repeat investors, and pre-tenanting closing, especially.

I would greatly appreciate all feedback and recommendations as this is my first time looking and do not want to get burned.

in a small unit burn 50k to reduce temp????

You'll quickly burn those bridges when the other two realize you bought it through someone else and were just wasting their time all along.I'm on the side of quality over quantity in this case (which, ironically, is probably the root cause your original complaint).

As a new LL , it  might be easier to pretend to be the manager if you have "nice guy syndrome" and  if you want to avoid getting burned by tenants.   

Sure enough the homeless guy's extension cords sparked a fire in the garage and burned the porch and garage on one of the buildings down.